Instructions: Quiche, that savory French custard tart, was a mainstay of home cooks a decade or two ago. It graced the tables at chic luncheons and dinner parties.

Even restaurants offered a generous selection of quiche. Who could resist the union of a crisp, buttery pastry with a smooth creamy custard filling flavored with bacon, cheese, onions or whatever struck the cooks fancy?

But where is quiche now? Hiding from the food police? Come on out, wherever you are!

Many years ago, when I was just learning to cook, a dear friend told me:

"You gotta put in good to take out good." Ive carried that lesson with me always, and I have found it to be most apt when making a quiche. You cannot make a real quiche with fake ingredients.

Low-fat milk lacks the texture and full, rich flavor of cream; egg whites without the yolks make the filling rubbery; and if you leave the crust out, well, just forget about the whole thing.

The key to a great quiche is a great pastry. (See A Shattering Pie Crust, for suggestions.) Here are some other tips to help you make fabulous quiche:

1. Use a lightly floured surface when rolling the dough. The reason is that too much flour on the surface of the dough can make your pastry tough. A pastry cloth, widely available through cooking catalogs (or buy a piece of canvas from a fabric shop), works best.

2. Quiche bakes best in a flan ring: a hoop of metal about 1 inch high and 8 or 9 inches in diameter. Or the pastry may be fitted into a tart pan with a removable bottom. I urge you to seek out the flan ring because the pastry becomes far more crisp that way. Once youve fit the pastry in the ring, prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork. Refrigerate for at least half an hour to allow the pastry to firm up.

3. To prevent a soggy crust, pre-bake the chilled shell. Line it with a square of regular aluminum foil, shiny side down, and fill it with dried beans.

Bake in a 400-degree oven until the pastry edge has lost its raw look and has begun to set, about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, prick the bottom of the pastry again with a fork, and return it to the oven to bake 8 to 10 minutes more, until it is golden brown and almost completely cooked. The shell is now ready to be filled with whatever you choose.

The classic Quiche Lorraine flavored with bacon and contains no cheese. It is my all-time favorite. But quiche lends itself to all sorts of fillings. One especially satisfying combination is a mixture of cheeses, such as Gruyere and Parrano (a Dutch cheese) with a sprinkling of Parmesan on top. For a particularly savory filling, cook minced onions in butter until completely tender and golden brown, and add some pancetta, diced and cooked until crisp.

Sauteed eggplant slices, cooled and arranged on the bottom of the prebaked shell and topped with the custard mixture is another sure winner. When tomatoes and basil are at their peak, peel, seed, juice, and dice the tomatoes and saute them briefly in olive oil with some garlic.

Stir in some torn basil leaves. When cool, spread the mixture on the bottom of the quiche shell and pour in the custard. Sprinkle with a bit of Parmesan, and bake for a great celebration of summers flavors.

Just use your imagination and whatever vegetables are in season. But heres the most important point about the filling. The custard must have cream. No exceptions. Whole eggs, plus an extra yolk or two, a bit of salt, and maybe a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg complete the mixture.

Carefully pour the custard over your chosen filling, scatter a tablespoon or two of chilled butter cut into pea-sized dots over the top, and place the quiche

In a 375-degree oven. In about half an hour the quiche will have puffed and be beautifully browned on top.

Remove from the oven and carefully lift off the flan ring using two forks.

With a wide metal spatula, slide the quiche onto a platter and serve. The puff of the quiche settles within a few minutes, which is as it should be. Serve with a garden salad of mixed baby greens and a loaf of crusty bread. Then savor your creation.

Quiche, welcome back!

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